Sunflower Samurai
by LiveLoveLaugh
Summary: [Naruto X Samurai Champloo] Sakura had stepped into a spellbound when she fell asleep in a garden of sunflowers, in a strange event she was taken in a coma where she dreamt she lived in a world not her own, traveling with three other wanderers.
1. Prologue: Reckless Girl

**Disclaimer:** Woman, please, I don't need to own Naruto or Samurai Champloo to write fanfiction.

Penname: _LiveLoveLaugh_

FanFiction Story: **Sunflower Samurai**

**Summary:** (Naruto X Samurai Champloo) Sakura had stepped into a spellbound when she fell asleep in a garden of sunflowers, in a strange event she was taken in a coma where she dreamt she lived in a world not her own, traveling with three other wanderers.

**_AN_:** I had recently discovered this great new anime show, _Samurai Champloo_, when I was watching Adult Swim with my younger brother and I fell intensely in love with the complex artwork and the fluid movements of the characters. I was absolutely delighted when I found yet another modernized martial arts series, and it was so much better than _Rurouni Kenshin_! I was so completely happy, that I had to write this one even though I never read any other _Samurai Champloo_ fanfiction stories and with my combined love and obsession for Naruto, I decided to make a crossover. _Hmm_, I know many of you don't know what 'Samurai Champloo' is but it's an excellent anime and I highly recommend it. I may be spoiling the general plot so far, but it's what it's about:

Fuu, a fifteen-year old girl, had worked in a tea house as a waitress trying to live her life without a mother and a father who had been missing in her life. When two polar opposite samurais, named Mugen and Jin, had both engaged themselves in a public fight, and were put up against execution in the morning, she had decided to rescue the two of them if they had promised to come with her on a journey to look for a 'samurai who smelled like sunflowers'. That's if they didn't kill each other first.

I will expect only a few would review, but I hope a few more who enjoy the story for the plot and not for the cross-over. Enjoy!

Prologue: _Reckless Girl_

The sweet laughter of children had caressed the summer waves of hot air, their sweat pouring into their tee shirts and shorts as they ran around like idiots chasing one and other to compete against cleverness and speed. The large group of girls watched giggling blushingly at the boys who kicked the rubber ball around the large field. Their shouts and cries had only filled the happy sunny atmosphere with their chatter of their sandals, the other guardians were scolding the kids who scraped their knees and the flowers around her were blowing in the light breezes as the golden orb of the sun had arise in the blue sky streaming with white puffy clouds.

She was one of the substitutes for today, she watched over the kids for her old Academy teacher who was on an errand for the Hokage. Sakura giggled at the intertwining feet shuffling at the red ball until it smacked against the tree and bounced off, toward the faraway fields that held the tall flowers with their giant colorful petals and green stalks. The kids raced towards the flower field, only ending up groaning with impatience.

"Aw man, you idiot! You kicked the ball so far away!" one of the rough boys snarled, placing his hands on his hips grudgingly.

"My fault?" the other tyke scoffed disbelievingly, "I wasn't the one who kicked it!"

One of the girls on the team moaned, "You can't see it! The damn sunflowers are blocking it!"

"I'll get it!" a kid cried bravely, puffing up his chest.

"It's too deep into the field, we're not allowed to go there, _remember?_" his friend replied, slapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey! You can play with another ball!" one of the Academy teachers perked, holding up another one, "Forget about that one!"

The kids all around screamed with delight and ran towards him, Sakura glanced lightly from her place underneath the willow tree. The children began another game, the girls cheered off while teachers shout for authority and their responsibility. The pink-haired Jounin stepped up to the older educators with a smile.

"My, my, Sakura-san, you seem to be in a good mood today," a teacher remarked friendly, clapping his hands against his thighs.

"Well, I barely get out of the hospital to see the kids play," her green eyes gleamed in the direction of the sunflower fields, "I didn't expect this summer to be so hot either."

"Ah," he said, squinting his eyes through the lens of his glasses when he looked at the valley, "The flowers are coming in very nicely, I can see the Yamanaka flower shop would be pleased. Tell Ino-san she should get the better ones before the other women do. You know how much she likes her flowers fresh."

Sakura fluttered her eyes at the mere memory, "Yes, I do."

A shout was heard, the two shinobis turn to the noise. A child had accidentally fall down and was crying while other kids surrounded him. The male teacher groaned frustratingly at the students he had to handle. Before he ran to scoop the kid up, Sakura placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'll get the ball," she suggested, "In the fields…I think I can pluck some flowers for Ino."

The man nodded, murmuring, "Alright, alright, just hurry up. I don't want parents complaining to me that there aren't enough guardians around for their tykes."

She nodded slowly, running off. Her white sandals had clutter against the bumpy green grass, her short skirt had carried off with her as she ran fast enough to create any sloppy trips. She stepped up to the tall cluster of sunflowers, the yellow and brown shapes of suns had sparkled her curiosity. Something about this field had called for her, something strange and exotic had made her come closer. Usually this field was quite useless for interesting sights when the villagers took their times looking at bamboo or cherry blossoms. The scent of them lingered in her face, a kind of smell she never had the time to contemplate about long enough. She breathed into the wavy earthy smells, and lifted some of the fallen flowers that frail on the short broken stalks where the ball had crushed against.

She maneuvered her body through the stalks, the yellow petals had combed through her unbound hair and her eyes completely camouflaged with the green of the plants. The air was thick and the scent of the flowers was intoxicating to her. She began to sweat quite unnecessarily, quite thanking herself for wearing her favorite color white. Her snow-white hooded tunic clung loosely on her eighteen-year old body with a maroon belt tied closely around her trim waist, her black short skirt was velcro at the sides with crimson shorts underneath. She had long since worn her forehead protector around her right arm, leaving her forehead to be exposed only by itself with small pink bangs hanging loosely at the sides of her pale face.

Sakura walked further into the fields, unsuccessfully finding that red rubber ball, she frowned slightly. A bead of sweat dripped from her nose as she walked warningly through the fields. She realized the tall towering stalks of the sunflowers had closely began to shorten in size and expanded in width of bunches of more than a few miles of the giant yellow sunflowers. She grimaced uncomfortably when streams of burning sunlight had lightly baked her pale skin as she roamed recklessly through the fields.

Soon she began to know that her curiosity had gotten far enough, and the ball didn't seem to matter to her anymore. Hell, she didn't even know whether or not she still was in the Hidden Leaf after a long while of walking aimlessly by her sixth sense. Her inner self was yapping on and on for the pros and cons of continuing the walk, but like always she ignored it. When she couldn't seem to be able to find the red ball anywhere, she decided to head back before she got anyone to worry over her missing presence.

"Now I can see why Kakashi-sensei calls me reckless," Sakura muttered to herself, combing a bunch of hairs over her ear.

Before she twist on her heel, she was stricken with the echoing loud velocity had had vibrated through the back of her body, no longer was she able to move anywhere away from the area. Her eyes were wide and her entire body began to struggle like she was caught in a body bind.

"W-What is h-happening to m-me…?" she gaped, when her voice in her throat began to cease, "I-I…can't…s-speak…o-or b-breathe…" she nearly choked, clasping her wildly fidgeting hands on her pale slender throat. She slumped forward drastically, her mind darting. She was in a dangerous position, her entire body was weaker than usual and her heart rate was slowing down frighteningly. Her lungs began to tighten painfully against her clasping ribs, a prison chamber than held all her exhalation in.

She felt her body possessed forcibly, the sun rays began to shower over her heavily.

Like strong invisible hands had gripped tightly on her forearms and legs had pulled her only forward, bringing up her chin to look towards an unknown destination, a place she didn't really want to know about.

Something made her keep going, something kept her from walking back, going back to the Academy class, it made her walk closer to somewhere hidden away. She somehow found out she moving involuntarily and she had regretted going so far, because right now she going too far. She couldn't breathing no matter how much she gaped for air, her voice was gone. She wanted to go to this place now. All she could have breathed in was the scent of the sunflowers and all she could say was the rough noises she made through her nose when the smell was too exhilarating. Sakura felt her feet collide painfully against the brownish green roots of the flowers, her hair was being caught into the restraints of the plants. The road was becoming scarcer and the moment she walked out of the tall garden, she fell forward on her knees. Her knees had landed on the gravel and brown dirt.

She gasped for the precious air that soon arrived into her lungs, she breathed harshly and greedily. She fell forward on a patch of grass, she breathed into the oxygen her body begged for and she felt sleepy and tired, exhausted. She had no idea how long she had been walking in that field. She had no idea how long she had lasted without air, and she felt all the muscles in her system had almost malfunctioned. What happened?

"Where am…I?" she whispered, biting her lip when she pushed herself off the ground. She looked up from the dew grass which dirtied and stained her white training blouse, clustering it with smears of green and brown. Her face was sweaty and her hair was messy with leaves. When she looked up, all she saw were the yellow sunflowers and she smelled that irritating smell.

The moment she breathed into that scent, her head fell limply on the grass. She gripped the pasture in her strong hands, gasping for more air. She saw the skies from the sideways glance, the lopsided picture of the grass and the orange black butterfly that hovered its beautiful wings over her prone form. She felt the wind, she felt the air in her sensitive nose and mouth, and the longer she looked in the direction she had spotted what she thought was a mirage of three dark figures, but it couldn't have been, could it?

"…help me…" she whispered, closing her tired green eyes.

And she no longer knew anymore when she fainted on the garden of sunflowers.

**To Be Continued**

_Here goes your prologue, I suppose. It's very short, I know but thank you for reading!_


	2. Hesitations of a Mother

**Disclaimer:** Dude, I don't need to own Naruto or Samurai Champloo to write fanfiction.

Penname: _LiveLoveLaugh_

FanFiction Story: **Sunflower Samurai**

**Summary:** Naruto X Samurai Champloo Sakura had stepped into a spellbound when she fell asleep in a garden of sunflowers, in a strange event she was taken in a coma where she dreamt she lived in a world not her own, traveling with three other wanderers.

**_AN_:** Yes, yes, I know I should be updating either one of my stories by now. I kind of got interested into this story, I won't update any other until I at least got down two chapters on this baby! Ha! Enjoy!

_Hesitations of a Mother_

"What the hell is going on?" Tsunade shouted, crossing over several trembling medic-nins who well aware of her heated aura, "Kotetsu and Izumo just send me here on an important basis, what they say the alert to be important better be important enough to interrupt my gambling fit with the visiting daimyo—"

"Hokage-sama, we have terrible news sadly!" one of them piped up, using a clipboard as a meager shield from her blazing hazel eyes, "Your pupil, Haruno-san, w-we found her unconscious b-body in the s-sunflower fields—"

"What!" she screamed, her eyes were frightened, "Where is she? What the hell happened to her?" Her shout scared the living hell out of the medic-nins who huddled together to fend themselves against her powerful deadly appearance. One of them, a male, went around juggling his paperwork and walked fidgeting towards the inch of her devastating shadow.

He fumbled with his hands quickly, her eyebrows rose with every one of his words, "Haruno Sakura is held in the emergency room, uh, room two-forty-three, Godaime-sama—she is having problems with breathing, we can't seem to know why she is since she is in better health than we, err, expected but her heart rate and uh, yes, breathing is lower than we want it to be. She is in a tight coma, and is unable to wake up—"

"LEAD ME TO HER NOW!" Tsunade screamed ordering, stalking quickly through the hallways, her heels pounding against the linoleum floors, "Tell me more of her status, man! You two—" she struck desperate instructions to two of the female nurses, "—I need you two to get hold of her old Jounin teacher Hatake Kakashi, her teammates Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke immediately to the hospital. I will also need the numbers of her parents right now—" when the nurses left immediately, she turned back to the male medic-nins at her side, "—Well! Speak up already!"

The poor man stuttered, "Y-Yes, G-Godaime-s-sama—"

"Enough with the formalities! I need to hear of the status of Sakura!" she scowled irritatingly, "If she dies, I will have your ass on my mantle, is that clear!" The medic-nins jumped, and tittered over their clipboards and paperwork quickly and hastily. One by one read them aloud, bringing the Hokage's face to contort and bit her lower lip hard while she went traumatizing towards the assigned room.

"Her breathing is low, her heart rate is low, her muscles are out of spasm particularly from the exhaustion she somehow had withdrawn herself in—"

"She was found in the sunflower fields while substituting with another teacher Takashi Mozure in a class of the Academy, belonging to Umino Iruka, who is out of commission seeing that he is on a crucial mission. She was said to be looking for the plaything ball in the gardens—"

"She seems very tired, her senses are strong but her hearing is incomplete, and she would not be able to communicate with us until she is awaken—"

"Her clothes were dirtied, smeared, and crumpled by the impact on the wet ground. There were no signs of ambushes, no signs of opposing guerilla attacks, no signs of genjutsu illusionary, ninjutsu, kinjutsu, or taken of any battery on her body—"

"There were handprints around her neck, but there were no signs of choking or any that of suicidal activities, we believe she might had an asthma attack but doctors have found no signs of asthma records in her files—"

"Perhaps a stroke, her heart shows no signs of it either. Its actually quite strong until this mysterious fainting fit—"

"She wasn't able to return with the missing ball, but instead had stayed in the fields longer than the Academy class had expected. We have no idea of why she stayed too late in the fields—"

"Her body is held in a coma, whether she was been devastated by a surprise or something she saw she didn't want to see, we're not so sure—"

Tsunade rampaged through the door, banging the double doors open and burst into a group of hushed nurses and doctors who were wide-eyed and stood hovering the still body of a young woman with disarray pink hair and half-lidded green eyes. The machines were in full mode, the mask was over her pink lips and nose, the liquids dripped sensuously in the containers leading into her wrist and the heart rates and pulse was connected to her index finger. The rest of her body was plugged up to the life-giving and recording machines, every repeating florescent green zigzag patterns on the black graphing scene had covered over the coma life of her young apprentice, depending the minutes, hours, and years she would live with another breath.

The older blond woman nearly collapsed seeing this, slapping her hand over her peach lips she stared at Sakura lying there like that. The nurses came around, hoisting the leader with their supporting arms and crying words to snap her out of this horrible trance that caught her in many scenarios when she had been through with the last three precious people she cured for who all pirouetted up in same position just like that.

"Hokage-sama!" they cried, one nurse in a white garb handed her a clay cup of tea close to her face, "Drink this Hokage-sama!"

Her eyebrows crossed to the apex of her nose, she shoved the inviting tea away, her anger ignited through this moment of weakness, "Get off me! Get back to work! We have a life to save here!" she shouted, blocking whatever desire to lie down. Everyone was scared of her temperamental fits and went back to their positions, ever so glancing at the powerful kunoichi.

She stepped over the body of Haruno Sakura, the spiraling fog of breath had misted under her plastic breathing mask, hovering the smaller body with sadness in her golden brown eyes. She stood over her like an obelisk, wanting to mourn for her but she needed to show her strength for the both of them. Tsunade picked up a blanket sheet covering slightly over Sakura's thighs, bringing it up to her voluptuous chest.

She fingered the thin fabric, looking affectionately at the girl.

"I won't lose another one," Tsunade murmured strongly, and with the wave of her quick hand, the blanket fell over the pink-haired girl's shoulders.

* * *

Unknowingly to anyone over her frozen body, she gripped her fists and she breathed more hastily to herself. She lifted her eyes slightly, and only slightly, only seeing blurs of the outside world. The young woman woke up with what felt like a new year's hangover, yes, one of the worst kinds, she sat up straight and gripped the side of her head hesitantly as she groaned and coughed into her hand. Spittle had wet around her lips, as she wiped them off roughly with the back of her hand. She pushes her heavy body up with her outstretched body from the branch of a tree—

Wait, what? The young woman accidentally tripped over the leafy branch, and fallen off the high tree landing face-first hard on the ground with an echoing scream. The hood of her white tunic had fallen over her pink hair, covering every out-of-place strand as she gripped her probably fractured ribs painfully.

She spat out dirt from her mouth nastily, and pulled herself up. Leaves she had ripped off with her fallen body from the branches had fallen on her like funeral flowers on some pitifully joke of a dead person.

"…how…did I end up…in a tree?" she muttered angrily. The last she remembered was being in a grassy land surrounded by a bunch of heavily scented sunflowers, she kneeled on all threes with her arm over her taut stomach. The rim of her white hood had covered her sights and all she saw was the messy bangs of her pink hair, and the yellow brown dirt road.

A squeak was heard from a distance, then a stammering of footsteps came running after.

"Where am I?" she asked, lifting up the hood slightly to look around.

"Oh my goodness! Are you injured?" a small high-pitched feminine voice was heard, bringing her attention to an equally small pair of wicker-sandaled white-socked feet.

She squealed in shock, fallen backwards on her behind and winced again in pain. She hid her eyes from the blinding light of the sun with the long sleeve of her white garment as she hoisted herself up in a sitting position with her legs bent to her chest.

"Oh! Are you alright, miss!" the small girl asked again, bending down with an outstretched hand, "I-I saw you fall out of t-that tree, I was afraid you were going to die or something! Are you okay?"

Sakura ran her dry tongue over the back of her straight teeth, tasting dirt and grass, and she spat out some more, "I'm okay…"

"But you fell out of a tree!" the small pair of feet cried disbelievingly, "You must have had some broken bones or—"

"It's nothing I can't heal," Sakura blabbered, the hood still covered her eyes when she looked around absentmindedly, "Uh, where are you…?"

She could have imagined a confused look on the stranger's face, "You have your hood on, miss. Are you, um, sure you're okay?"

"Oh," Sakura slapped herself mentally, "I'm fine," she lifted up the thick fabric from her face, fluttering her lashes slightly to get used to the light. She heard that same gasp coming from the girl, but didn't seem to care, "Am I still in Hidden Leaf?" she whispered, looking up to see a small petite girl, who looked to be about fifteen years old.

The pale-skinned girl had long light brown hair tied up into a beautiful spade bun with red beaded pins to hold up the messy strands, with the small shade of brown eyes, a small nose, flushed cheeks caused by the heat, and small lips of pink. She was adorned in mauve pink and white kimono with lighter shades of rose circle patterns on the sleeves, she was holding on a small basket of sewing supplies. The girl was obviously quite pretty, but it wasn't her good looks had got Sakura to worry a little.

She had stared at her with definite shock, like she saw a ghost or something, her cheeks were red from embarrassment as she looked into her pale face, "Um, m-miss! You, err, I-I mean—"

"What do you mean…?" Sakura asked, confused, "I don't have a broken nose do I?"

"No! I just, um, I-I mean, I—"

The kunoichi looked up at her with frustration, tired from her stammering. She stood from her painful seated form, but standing only made it more painful from the fallen tree impact, and she smiled nicely when she stood her tall height. Sakura was about a few inches taller than the younger woman, and dusted off her very short skirt with one of her hands tiredly.

"Look, if you don't mind, I'd like to know if I am still in Hidden Leaf because it seems to me I need to—"

"You have green eyes!" the girl piped, a few seconds too late. Sakura looked at her stunned.

What did it matter whether or not she had what color eyes or another?

"Huh?" she voiced out rudely, though she didn't mean to.

"Y-You have g-green eyes! I-I never s-seen a person w-with green eyes b-before!" the girl blushed, when she noticed she was stuttering again. She adjusted her voice and held out a hand for a shake, "My name is Fuu! What's yours?"

"Um," not that the medic-nin didn't like greetings, "I need get back home, I just fallen out of a tree and I'm pretty much tired. So if you can please show me a way back to Hidden Leaf or take me to an inn, perhaps—"

The girl named Fuu was still pretty much happy-go-lucky, still pressuring her for an introduction and her ribs did hurt, "My name is Haruno Sakura," she said grudgingly, having no idea what's going on, "Where am I exactly?"

"You're in Edo! Nice to meet you Haruno Sakura!" Fuu piped, then scanned her eyes curiously over the woman's shapely legs quite enviously, "Isn't that, um, dress a little too short?" she asked, her face was reddening from asking such a rude question.

Sakura twirled in the conversation, saying things very absentmindedly as she tried her best to skid off the subject and find her way out of this mess, "Sure, I suppose, for ninjas—"

Fuu shot her eyes back at the girl, "You're a ninja?"

"Uh, yeah…don't you know this sign?" the kunoichi moved her aching arm to the side, the gleaming metal plate of her hitae-ate strapped over her right forearm.

Fuu looked over it with narrowed eyes, having completely no idea what it meant, "What is that for?"

"The sign that I am a Hidden Leaf ninja," the concussion to the head really began to spin around in her head, causing her stumble backwards just a little. She began to spill out a few words there and then, without knowing what she was really saying, like she was drunk, "So I'm in Edo, eh? Is that far from Konoha, maybe? Woo! Is it hot in here or what?"

The brunette looked at the older woman with concern, "A-Are you okay?"

"Of course I am!" Sakura barked, placing a hand on her hip while her knees bent together, "Why wouldn't I…I…err, be?"

Then she fell over like the London Bridge.

**To Be Continued**

_Please patiently (and not greedily) for the next chapter!_


	3. Comatose Lady

**Disclaimer:** Babe, I don't need to own Naruto or Samurai Champloo to write fanfiction.

Penname: _LiveLoveLaugh_

FanFiction Story: **Sunflower Samurai**

**Summary:** (Naruto X Samurai Champloo) Sakura had stepped into a spellbound when she fell asleep in a garden of sunflowers, in a strange event she was taken in a coma where she dreamt she lived in a world not her own, traveling with three other wanderers.

**_AN_:** Ha, I knew only a few would review. Thank you for reading! And to those who are requesting for _Magical Chakra_, _Such Sweet Sorrow_, or _Teenage Rhapsody_, don't worry about me slacking off, I got their chapters half finished. I just never got around finishing it. Yet again, thank you for making my day 'nickety-style' when I found SIX reviews for _Sleeping Princes_ and TWELVE for _Sunflower Samurai_! Enjoy this chapter!

_Comatose Lady_

_Beep_.

_Beep_.

_Beep_.

Every single second of that aggravating droning squeak coming off the life machine had the gathering crowd of people sweating under their armpits, not from the heat, but the devastating tension building up in the small hospital room which concealed a member of the legendary Rookie Nine. She was held in a deep coma, soon after the head medic-nin had her lungs and heart working again she was sleeping unconsciously on thick bedding with the blankets over her thin shoulders. Her mouth was concealed with a breathing mask, her wrist was bandaged to the tube of dripping liquid, and her closed eyes were covered by a binding seal scroll. Her long pink hair was tied into two loose braids that spade on the pillow to avoid any tangles, and she was adorned into a white gown which went down to her knees.

The most important people in her life had intended to visit her. More were outside the assigned room, sitting on benches with gloomy looks and standoffish positions against the parallel walls. Her best friend had sat herself next to her bedridden form, looking over her rival with a significant emotional face and trembling lower lip. Her gift, a vase which held the girl's favorite flower, was placed on the nightstand with a pitcher of water and a glass cup. A young spandex-clad man with a bowl cut and thick eyebrows had looked out into the window, he wanted to look elsewhere than at her state, watching the clouds and quite agreeing with the shadow genius that the scenery was very relaxing. Her other best friend, another blonde, had his head on the edge of the bed with his right hand gripping her clothed knee.

A known raven-haired man was missing in action after being called on a mission a little while ago, the male blonde contemplated deeply on how to tell him the bad news if he got back. All he could hear was the intensifying squeaks, and he hoped to hear more of them.

_Beep_.

_Beep_.

Her parents, who were utterly worried, had sat themselves away from the bed had held each other safely with their eyes closed tiredly. The mother came to the hospital without any make up and her hair was uncombed, she gripped her chipped polished nails together as if she were praying. The father's chin was yet to be shaved with blots of unwashed shaving cream, a wrinkled pajama top was worn hastily over a badly belted pair of slacks, and he whispered assuring to his wife about their daughter's wellbeing, murmuring in a tone that made it seem like he was trying to convince himself. Her old masked teacher had watched the elderly folks, his exotic eye was half-lidded and sad.

The leader of the village had already sent groups of elite Anbu to investigate all sources of the sunflower field where the young woman had fainted mysteriously from something they couldn't define. It was hours since the rumor of a surprise attack on the girl had reached the ears of almost everyone. Many villagers were then warned not to go to that part of the park, and the Academy class field trips had to be canceled when the substitute teacher didn't return.

In a moment, the door burst open revealing a tall attractive flaxen woman who wore her green leaflet jacket over her trim shoulders, with a hand on her curvy hip. The parents of the girl stood up immediately from their seats on the cushioned chairs, the woman burst into tears while her husband held her up.

"What happened to my daughter! Who did this to her!" she cried.

"Koishi, please!" the man exclaimed, bringing all heads in the room to turn to them.

"Get your hands off me!" she turned to the older woman, her eyes were wet, "You are the Hokage! Save her, please!"

All the other female had done was look sternly at her crumbling form.

"I need to know, my daughter, my baby girl…" the woman trembled, looking far away, "I don't want her to be hurt…I don't want her to…to…"

The father held her comforting in his arms, cooing in her ear, "Everything's going to be alright, dear…"

She muffled in his collar, repeating over and over, "How do you know…? How do you know…"

The three teenagers looked at them with sad looks, and the blond girl stood up with her hands up to her chest as if she wanted to protect herself from an unsightly answer when she questioned the older woman, "What…happened to Sakura-chan?"

"I don't know," the head kunoichi replied bluntly, her hazel eyes were held in place, "Her collapse is one of the strangest I've ever seen, I don't know exactly what happened unfortunately."

"_Exactly? _Then you must know _something_," the platinum-haired girl asked.

"Will…she…wake up?" the Taijutsu Specialist whispered.

The woman sighed, finding the right words.

"I'm sorry, but Sakura would have to stay here for a while longer," the giant-busted woman murmured, the corner of her mouth twitched, "We still cannot define what is wrong with her health, we do believe it might have been a soft of belladonna powder that she must have inhaled through the flowers in that field where she had collapsed in. I apologize for not being able to confer any more information about her, our best medic-nins and nurses, as well as I," she fluttered her lashes, "Are currently researching through our library for any antidote or seemingly, a remedy to help revive her from this tight coma. But right now, all we can do is wait."

"If someone attacked her…" a mustard-haired young man growled, his blue eyes turned slightly bloody red, "I'll _kill _them…"

"I'm sure you will," the Hokage brushed off the comment like an irritation.

**To Be Continued**

_Sorry, I can only write a short chapter now. I'll work on the other one after I get back home. _


	4. Whodunit Woman

**Disclaimer:** …why would I go after someone with a patent…?

Penname: _LiveLoveLaugh_

FanFiction Story: **Sunflower Samurai**

**Summary:** (Naruto X Samurai Champloo) Sakura had stepped into a spellbound when she fell asleep in a garden of sunflowers, in a strange event she was taken in a coma where she dreamt she lived in a world not her own, traveling with three other wanderers.

**_AN_:** Alrighty then! I'm back! (Mean people: _Aw man_…) I just typed up the rest of the chapter, that was supposed to be reserved for the last chapter but since I running out of time so quickly, I decided to split the two parts. Now that I think about it, I think its better that way because I can write _longer_ on this chapter. (_Audience whoops_) Hope you enjoyed the story so far! Thank you to those who reviewed! Please have a good read, enjoy!

_Whodunit Woman_

In lightning sharp, the tall young man threw the axe through the small chunk of wood into two clean halves. The logs fell from the stump he used for axing. He slowly wiped the back of his arm over his sweaty forehead. He steadily took another piece of wood and placed it bull's eye shot on top, and threw down his axe again. The halves flew from each other. He calmly regained his breathing, running his long fingers through his long black bangs and slowly adjusted his spectacles on his nose bridge. He thinned his lips, he was a little agitated that the young girl and that street dog had not come back yet.

Was it him or was he always stuck with the chores?

He shook his head, sitting down on the ashy stump while loosening the rope strands to let down the long sleeves of his indigo and white yukata top, taking off his glasses to polish the foggy lens. The sun was setting in the distance, when he looked out into the open double doors of the inn house which he and his homeless traveling companions were staying for a couple of days for free, if they would exchange for their help in repairing and cleaning the entire hotel. He picked up the fallen timber of the last firewood bunch, and throwing it neatly into the pile before he went inside their inn room.

He pushed open the front fusuma. His pale slender fingers stuck on the smooth grooves of bamboo and slid the door to find someone already in there. He frowned most unpleasantly, sliding back the fusuma.

"Where were you?" he asked nonchalantly, his speculating eyes looked skeptically at the figure.

"I was in the market, smartass, remember? The inn guy had me doing errands all over the place, it was getting very irritating by the end of the day," the younger man smirked, scratching the whiskers on his strong chin and upper lip, "But of course, I didn't mind after I came out of the rice and grain shop…" He trailed off deliberately with a twinkle in his dark eyes, waiting for him to ask.

The taller skinner male's lips thinned, "I suppose this is the part where I ask 'what happened, Mugen'?"

Mugen snickered, a grin formed on his mouth, "Well, since you asked _so_ nicely, Jin…there was this very attractive woman in the streets with a pair of _huuuge_ breasts," he gestured the size by cupping his hands over his flat chest, "And a very fine ass that won't quit," he dusted off the back of his shorts, smirking terribly predatorily, "And wore the most revealing kimono dress I'd seen yet, I mean her cleavage was down to there…"

"I'm sure I missed a lot seeing that you might have flattered her," the other man muttered, stopping him from tracing the invisible seam of the woman's dress.

"Ah, don't get jealous!" Mugen slipped out of his red jacket, and laid it next to him when he spread himself supine near the heater, "She was accompanied with her pockmarked, kinda heavy bird. She's was quite of your type, you know? Ugly and quiet, you like them kind of girls, eh? Maybe I should introduce you to her —"

"Somehow I failed to understand how this is a good reason to explain why you didn't do half of your errands properly?" Jin whispered, sitting down with his legs crossed and his arms inserted into his long indigo sleeves, "We have to leave the place soon, to get to the neighboring town. We need enough money for that kind of transportation."

The dark-skinned man waved it off, "Damn, don't worry about it. I can always get the Little Miss Diva to flash her sparkly doe eyes at the innkeeper, they all fall for that. Hell, we can get away with murder and—"

Jin blinked behind his glasses, "Where is Fuu, anyway?"

"Man! Stop interrupting me!" Mugen exclaimed, whisking out a sake bottle from his pants pocket, "Damn, pisses me off…"

"Where is Fuu? Have you seen her?" the swordsman asked in a low urgent voice.

"Iunno, I thought she was still in the inn," he took a draught from the white bottle, "Why? When was the last time you saw her?"

"I saw her leave with you," Jin picked himself off the polished wooden floor, "If you haven't seen her, then we should look for her now." He kicked the seated young man roughly with his foot that Mugen tipped over painfully on his rigid back, the sake bottle dropped from his hand and spilled on the ground, "Get up."

Mugen grunted, rubbing the back of his neck, "That's another reason why I get to kick your skinny pale white ass out of Edo after we find that prissy sunflower guy for that princess…"

He grabbed his swords and throw over the green and beige strap, straightening out his red traditional shirt.

"Yes, but I reserve all the rights to slay you," Jin whispered quietly, his eyes narrowed with intense seriousness that the other man had brushed off the strong threat like dust specks from his raggedy clothes.

"Pfft," Mugen scoffed, standing up and walking over to the closed fusuma, "Why do I need to worry over that? I bet even a woman can dodge all your prissy pants movements, you call 'sword fighting'."

"I suppose you can, since you named your style 'sword fighting'," the pony-tailed man muttered, making the other male burn up.

Mugen glared ahead, shoving aside the spectacled man and threw aside the fusuma hastily as if claiming to find all the rights to be better than him in every way. If only he could snap those damn glasses in half. Cool air met their bodies, as the moon was rising, and they were met with surprise when the person they had to look for if she were in a scandal, was about to open the door for herself too. The young maiden with brown hair squealed wide-eyed, falling on her small behind when the ugly dirty face of Mugen's appeared so closely towards hers.

Jin peeked dumbfounded from behind with his eyebrows raised.

"What the heck were you trying to do!" Fuu screamed, standing up immediately and smacking upside his messy hair, "Don't do that again! That was really frightening!" He grimaced at the hit, and looked down on her with his dark eyes.

"What a fucking scaredy-cat!" he taunted, placing his hands on his skinny hips, "It's not like I'm some sort of bedtime ghoul!"

Fuu blinked, fluttering her eyelashes and tapped at her chin when she analyzed his face, "No, but you do have a face of an ape."

"Why you little—!"

Before Mugen could choke her pretty neck, Jin stepped ahead in time and looked down on the young maiden.

"What happened to you? Weren't you the one who told us not to come home so late?"

Fuu thought over that, then jumped excitedly while scratching the back of her head, "Aha, I got a good excuse! You see, just a few hours ago when I broke apart from Mugen because he was flirting with some very curvy women," the mentioned had his eyes sparkling with amused glee, while Jin didn't look into that, "And I had to deliver the basket of sewing supplies to the innkeeper's wife, but while I was coming back on the road, I came upon this person who fell out of a tree."

The two men blinked, "Fell out of a tree?"

She shook her head, "I don't know how that happened, but I swear to the Heavens, I had to stop and—oh my goodness, the person had _green_ eyes! Isn't that amazing?" she squealed excitedly, "I was so jealous, I wish had green eyes instead of boring ol' brown eyes like everyone else's—do you suppose it was a birth defect? I mean I seen albinos around the area before with _red_ eyes, so maybe, it only comes naturally—"

Unfazed by the flat-chest girl's rant, Mugen leaned against the door frame, "Quit your jabbering, brat. No one has green eyes in this area of the continent. That's only a myth."

"Nuh-uh!" Fuu pouted, "You just haven't seen—"

"Uh-huh!" Mugen snapped, bending his long neck to her face.

"Nuh-uh!" Fuu tiptoed, angrily gritting her teeth.

"How did this person fall out of a tree?" Jin asked confused, breaking through the childish charade.

Fuu blushed out of embarrassment, coughing into her hand and adjusted her voice, "I don't have a clue! She must have been sleeping or something, but when I helped her up, I saw her _green_ eyes—" she smirked triumphantly to an uninterested Mugen, who yawned in his hand, "—from under that hood she wore. Then she must have fainted from the pain. And so I took her to the inn, and the innkeeper said she could stay for free if I could scrub the kitchen floors, so right now she's resting with the innkeeper's wife with a bunch of bandages. They said she could leave after she heals."

Jin lowered his slender brows questionably, "Wait, they're making _you_ do extra shift for her lounging?"

"Mm-hm! I flashed them my special shiny eyes technique!" Fuu giggled, clapping her hands together, "And they fell for it."

"That's stupid," the stray dog growled, folding his arms, "She gets free room and meal in the inn for having another person do her chores, and just scrubbing the Goddamn kitchen and we have to work our ass off for the last two days for our expensive payment!"

The brunette girl frowned, "Well, only because you keep _breaking_ everything in the inn the moment you _touch_ them!"

"Yeah, that way Pretty Boy here would get more chores," Mugen grinned mischievously.

Jin didn't look impressed by his remark. The younger man sighed, and looked a tad skeptically at the fifteen year old girl.

"I still don't believe someone can have green eyes," her jaw dropped, Mugen continued on picking from underneath his nails, "I mean you must have experienced some sort of light defect from the sun. You have to be making all this up for your damn tardiness, no one is stupid enough to fall off a tree nor do they have green eyes. Please, just tell us where you went so Jin-chan here can scold you, then we can go eat dinner, then we can sleep and wake up for tomorrow morning."

"I DIDN'T MAKE IT UP!" Fuu yelled.

Jin winced, "Jin-chan?"

"YOU STUPID APE-MAN! WHY THE HECK WOULD I LIE?" Fuu went on ranting, though Mugen just stuck a pinky finger into his ear annoyed, "IT IS TRUE! A PERSON CAN HAVE GREEN EYES! AND I'M SURE IT MUST HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT WHEN SHE FELL OUT OF THAT STUPID TREE! I CAN SHOW YOU RIGHT NOW! COME ON, LET'S GO!"

She grabbed both of their arms and dragged them along, Jin looked down on her with confusion, "Why do I need to come?"

"Jin, please! Don't you simply understand the way things work? I need a witness or less, Mugen would deny it even more so," Fuu cackled madly, causing the two men to sweat-drop. Mugen rubbed under his chin.

"So when you mention that this person with green eyes, you said she was a girl right?"

"Yeah!" she was panting when she pulled the two along while running.

"So how old is she?"

"Around you and Jin's age, I think," Fuu blinked, glancing at him.

"Is she hot?"

"WHAT DOES THAT MATTER?" the outrageous cry woke up the cawing birds from the tiled rooftops.

**To Be Continued**

_Hmm, this story doesn't necessary force 'everyone' to watch _Samurai Champloo_ before reading the fanfiction. I'm just introducing something new and you don't have to know the whole plot to enjoy reading my stories. I try to fend away from getting everyone worked up about not understanding, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Um, sooner or later, I suppose._

I hope the characters in this chapter helped a little with the imagery.


	5. One Night Suspense

**Disclaimer:** The moment I will own either Naruto or Samurai Champloo, I will stop writing fanfiction. (Just kidding, I already stopped writing) Haha.

Penname: _LiveLoveLaugh_

FanFiction Story: **Sunflower Samurai**

**Summary:** (Naruto X Samurai Champloo) Sakura had stepped into a spellbound when she fell asleep in a garden of sunflowers, in a strange event she was taken in a coma where she dreamt she lived in a world not her own, traveling with three other wanderers.

**_AN_:** Sorry for the delay…on, um, _all_ of my stories. I had other things to do. I guess that's the progress of a writer, ha, you tend to lose track. But I finally got my butt off the couch, and I written up this story. Though I should say that this story does not run with either of the animes' storylines. Here's the sixth chapter, thank you for feeding the Author. Enjoy!

_One Night Suspense_

"What happened to her, Kaa-san?"

"Oh, she was unconscious after an accident…she just needs some rest, come on, let's go…"

"Alright…"

The wooden fusuma opened, slid shut and locked.

* * *

The young woman groaned unpleasantly from the ache on her back. She greedily groped for the folds of the cotton blanket thrown over her shoulders, grabbing it quickly and curled up in this nice warmth that surrounded her body. She snuggled into her soft flat feather pillow, breathing into the slightly itchy comforter while she snapped her eyes shut. Without waking up fully, she ran her small hand into her hood, feeling the damp tangles of hair. There was a soft giggle, a casting of shadow was held over her slumbering body. She smiled indifferently, cradling in her own bed.

_Her own bed…_hard and flat, thin…cold…

…that's _not_ how her bed feels…

She popped her eyes open. _The fuck_, were the first two words in her head.

* * *

"I'll _show_ you, you damn ape-face…" the girl growled, increasing her grip strength around the pulsing arms of the two men who trudged behind her with blinking uncomfortable stares. The stamping of footsteps hardened the closer they came to the private rooms of the innkeeper and his small family, coming around two long hallways and an elegant staircase, the trio instantly came upon the locked fusuma. 

The younger male looked with his dark eyes at the luxurious surroundings in the balcony, "Shit…" he speculated the good luck charms hanging off the strong green leaves of a small bamboo grove, complete with a red goldfish pond with lily blossoms. The entire balcony was covered with talisman scrolls and potted bonsai trees, he used his index finger and thumb, flicking off the wooden wind chimes to hear the tingling sounds, "What the hell do they need this for…?"

"Burglar alerts," the other man whispered calmly, while the girl knocked on the fusuma, "It sounds off to the movements of robbers. I'd rather not touch those if I were you, I do not wish to be framed as a thief."

The hollow sounds of heavy bamboo temples clanging together did nothing for Mugen, as he smirked, "These things will never work," an eyebrow raised in his direction, "These chimes are wooden and are too heavy to make enough sound. Robbers won't even dare to run down hallways. They jump off buildings…land in nearby trees…"

He trailed on, the twinkle in his eyes said more than it should have.

Jin frowned, "And you would know this…?"

Mugen shrugged, yawning, "I lived without anything. I lived without rules, without authority. How you think I would even know the streets? I had to rob some day to survive…it was the way of life…"

"I suppose this was how you practice your sword…_skills?_" the spectacled man whispered in coldness, sarcastically emphasizing the last word, "I wouldn't be so surprised."

Mugen smirked dangerously, only the sounds he could hear were the loud knocks on the fusuma, "You would think…wouldn't you?"

"HEEELLLLOOOO?" the young girl's voice rang above.

* * *

She jumped to her feet panicking. The thin blankets fell off her in one quick motion as did her white coat, spilling out the long tresses of pink. Her green eyes were wide, biting on the slender fingers when she stopped herself from making any noise. She dashed across the room barefooted, trying to look for her sandals, silently hobbling with her hair flying to her white face.

* * *

"Hello! HELLO! Is anyone in there?" Fuu cried, knocking persistently. No one came to the door. 

"Bah, come on, diva," Mugen growled impatiently, as loud as his stomach, "We need to eat."

The girl pouted, "But I need to prove—"

"You don't have to fucking _prove_ anything," he snarled, looking down on her, "We either eat or starve to death, alright? We can do this tomorrow."

Her protest was cut off shortly when the two men grabbed her and lifted her off the floor. She squealed and tried to cover up her dignity when the end of her mauve pink kimono nearly shot up. Then came the screams and kicking, "HEY! LET ME DOWN YOU BASTARDS!" Mugen threw her over his strong thin shoulder, Fuu began to squeal and jab him on the back with her rambling punches and knuckling.

"MUGEN! LET ME DOWN! YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!" Then she shrieked with the tan-skinned man easily tossed her petite body to his other shoulder, his hand held her in place. He was grinning like the devil when Fuu's face was flushed of all color, looking ready to hurl over. She fired up once again in no time, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Fuu struck an accusing finger at the other guy, "JIN! YOU DARN _TRAITOR!_ TELL HIM TO LET GO OF ME!"

Jin blinked, his cool looks were faltering into annoyance when he followed behind, and they walked far away, far enough from the private rooms to not hear the stream of quiet curses.

* * *

"Oh damn it! Fucking hell! Where the _fuck_ am I?" she whispered urgently. 

**To Be Continued**

_Sorry, but I have to cut off earlier than expected. I'll write more later. _


	6. Hungry Hungry Hippo

**Disclaimer:** …why would I go after someone with a patent…?

Penname: _LiveLoveLaugh_

FanFiction Story: **Sunflower Samurai**

**Summary:** (Naruto X Samurai Champloo) Sakura had stepped into a spellbound when she fell asleep in a garden of sunflowers, in a strange event she was taken in a coma where she dreamt she lived in a world not her own, traveling with three other wanderers.

**_AN_:** I had to do other things…um, yet again. I had just started the third week of school. (Sighs) So terribly sorry about the last chapter, I agree it was very short. BUT I finished the storyline! And I had also decided the pairings! WOO! Here's another chapter! Have a good read.

* * *

_Hungry Hungry Hippo _

* * *

Several long moments later, dinner was served in the kitchen area. Wooden clogs and sandals were lazily kicked underneath the small wooden table, bare feet scraped against the dry cement floor, chopsticks clicked together and poked and picked at the small dishes and pots of hot steamy soup. Fish bones were half cleaned, rice kernels dropped on the ground or stuck to the rims of their eating bowls while meager fish balls and carrots were devoured. The smell of cooking in the small kitchen had waft underneath someone's stuck up nose, causing their shoulders to shake under the pressures of hunger. 

"Ugh…" Fuu groaned, thought not as loudly as her flat stomach.

"You should eat something," Jin halfheartedly advised, occupying his tight mouth with tofu stew.

"I will not…" the brunette growled, glaring at Mugen, "…give _up_."

"Woo gow dat, yov VON'T 'ave do proov ehnyking," Mugen said through a heavily stuffed mouth, specks of food dribbled down his skinny throat. Jin inched back with a disgusted look, spooning the soup into his mouth.

Fuu glared deathly at him before mumbling under her teeth, wrapping her arms around to cradle her tired head. The street dog swallowed hugely and smugly looked at her, his mouth quirked when she closed her eyes while thinking up ways to kill him. His teeth had clamped onto wooden picks of beef strips as he grinned devilishly at the diva. Her eyes were determined, until her tummy rumbled loudly. He hummed while he rubbed his stomach satisfyingly and picked at his teeth while she watched horrified.

She moaned and smacked her forehead on the table top. The two other men were still eating to their fill.

Someone standing over the stove shook her head in disapproval. Her gray streaks of her loose bun had flown down her wrinkled forehead. The old chef walked over while rolling up her navy sleeves and patted her hand on Fuu's thin shoulder, "You should really go to a doctor, young lady. I hate to see such a nice-looking girl become a skinny plank just overnight. At least eat something."

Fuu still kept her glowering on the burly samurai, "It's alright, m'am, I can last an hour."

Mugen slurped up his noodles, before rolling his dark eyes at her, "Hey, sweetheart, I didn't push you into this shitty bet. You bought it onto yourself. Remember, no meal until I see the girl, or whatever…"

"The girl?" the cook looked confused, blinking, "You mean that young woman that you had carried in before dinner?"

Fuu nodded, eagerly, "Yes. Have you seen her before?"

"Never in my life."

The young girl banged her head on the table defeated.

The old woman looked uncomfortable when she wiped her hands on her apron, "Though if I were you, I wouldn't have brought in a stranger to this inn."

The three occupants stopped eating altogether. They stared up at her flustered face.

"What do you mean?" Jin asked, the shimmering glint reflected from his specs.

"Oh? You haven't heard?" the cook raised a skinny brow, "It was lightly rumored that a so-called infamous con-artist-thief had been spotted in this region. No one is sure whether it's a man or a woman. Though I did try to consult the innkeeper about this specific information, the man doesn't seem to think that this woman could possibly be one so he kept her in one of the guest rooms so she can heal her wounds." She looked uneasily, "I recommend you hide your possessions, if you know what's best. Even if she isn't one, I know the thief is possibly around this village…"

Fuu nodded, and then her brown eyes began to sparkle.

"Is there a prize involved?" she asked suddenly.

"Prize?" the cook looked very flushed and embarrassed at her outburst.

"Yes, if the thief must be infamous and was seen in town that must mean the police patrol must have placed a hefty bounty on the burglar's head," her mischievous eyes flicked over the two men, who reclined instantly at her glance.

"I suppose there is a prize—oh yes, there was one," the lady blinked, "Yes, it was for seven ryou, I think."

Before Fuu could even squeal with delight, Mugen and Jin stood up instantly and knocked over their chairs with the kicks of their sword sheaths. Mugen look very disgruntled, yelling at the young girl, "NO! Absolutely not! Don't even think about it! I as Hell not running around after some ass wipe because one of your stupid plans!"

"Right," Jin said affirmatively.

"OH COME ON!" she yelled, "You made a p—"

"Your fucking promise was for us to find this smelly samurai, NOT playing duck duck goose!" Mugen shouted, throwing up his hands, "And when are we EVER going to even know how that sunflower dude looks like anyway?"

"YEAH! But that amount of money can get us to the next town!" Fuu bickered, ignoring the second question. She began to count off the reasons by her fingers, "Look! The sooner we find the thief, the sooner we get the prize money, the sooner we can go to the next village, the sooner we find the samurai who smells of sunflowers, would be the time you two can both kill each other, and won't ever have to see me ever again!"

Even though the two men were bickering at her, shutting her down at all means of ruining their sleep and peace, Fuu tapped her finger on her nimble chin. The old cook looked disconcerted when the two samurais then turned on each other and were sooner yelling about Heaven knows what, but Heaven didn't seem to want to tell us. The brunette turned to the two men after the lantern in her head had ignited, her giant smile had turned into an aggravated groan when their swords were yet to be unsheathed.

"Guys! Would you two stop it! I got another idea!" she cried excitedly, her hands grasped on their bony wrists. Jin and Mugen exchanged disgruntled looks, then looked back down at her.

After talking for a short while, the two samurais brought up their points.

"I'm spending half of that ryou for a hot lay, aite?" Mugen grumbled. Fuu glared.

"But first, we need to check if the girl upstairs is the culprit," Jin whispered.

Fuu laughed carelessly, "Oh don't worry. I have great people skills! She's not a thief, I'm sure of it."

"Great people skills huh?" Mugen muttered sarcastically, depicting all the irony in their journey.

* * *

She squealed to herself, biting down on her hand immediately. Spittle and blood had rolled down her knuckles, her mouth tasted coppery, and the white fingers began to become soaked and painful. Her lower lip had trembled with over-anxiety, as drops of blood made by her sharp teeth marks had fallen on her messy white sheets. She clenched her ribs, the unbearable bruise around her middle had stopped her from twisting too fast or hobbled over the wooden planks of the clean floors. Her fingers began to glow an illuminating green chakra sheen that danced over her injured body, healing herself instantly. Once the pain had disappeared, she shot her head around the everlasting ever-spinning elegant room which had become smaller and tighter as she hobbled around the room looking at her surroundings. 

Insanity and disbelief in the atmosphere had thickened in heat waves, coming from the comforting boiler in the middle of the room. Nervous sweat had increased down the back of her neck and down the bridge of her pale nose. She pushed away the blankets and bed sheets from where she had slept unexpectedly, looking for any fallen kunai or senbon, missing medical supplies, bandages, her black training gloves, the works.

She had discarded her soiled sweater almost instantly, throwing it aside. Cool soft air had etched in her thin black long-sleeved mesh top with the fishnet collar, her training skirt was flying with the quick movements of her speedy legs. She found her back pouch and shuriken holster near the door way, thankfully untouched. What kept running around and around in her mind was the same things: the need to know where the fuck she was, how the fuck she had ended up here, why the fuck is she here, and most of, how the fuck can she escape? Right now, right then, she didn't care if someone loving and caring had taken her here, or some one evil and horrible had shanghaied her across the country.

She just didn't care.

She was a kunoichi for Goodness's sakes, and a damn good one.

Who cares if she gets lost, taken away again…and…would never…ever find her way out of here…_forever_…?

She gulped, and feasted her eyes on something afar.

She threw open the giant wardrobe closet across the room, finely hand carved of fire dragons with tube-eyes and grinning toothy mouths, their tiny claws hanging onto gum-ball pearls and intricate clouds. Within the wooden chambers that smelled like liquor and opium, she opened drawer after drawer, taking shiny golden money tablets, copper coins, jade earrings, and imported pearl necklaces, anything of value and stuffing them in a large expensive leather knapsack with two red drawstrings she found hanging from an ivory hook. She unselectively grabbed a brown cloak from another hanger and tied the attachments hastily.

She had absolutely no idea what the hell she was doing. She combed her pink hair over and hidden it threw the giant hood, the cloak had draped over her lithe body and hung around her bare legs. She was acceptingly poor right then in hiding her tracks that desperate moment when she strapped onto her sandals, and burst through the fusuma quickly with all the hope in the world, to find out where she was.

But it was a mistake from the start.

It was as if someone was playing a sick joke on her, the moment she threw open the sliding doors, someone else had ricocheted off her body. She smashed against the fusuma, nearly tearing it more.

She heard a scoff. A man's voice.

"Little bitch, don't get in my way!" And suddenly when she looked up, a cloak of dark brown had soared off the balcony and flown into the air, over the gravity that held the both of them and sent himself into the dense forest. She jumped back up with panic, suddenly her ears were filled with heavy steps of click-clacking of feet against wood.

She turned around, sending the soles of her sandals into screeches. Suddenly, someone _screams_.

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_"

She met up a towering massive heavy face of chins and thick makeup. It was a giant woman, dressed in an extravagant kimono that looked about to burst from the deep folds of flesh. She defensively pushed her out of the way, slamming her side to the bordering of the red balcony. The whining rings of the bells and bamboo shoots she collided against had immediately created loud noises of whistles and, if it were too quiet, the screams of the hysterical banshee woman had echoed down the hallway, through the entire building and into the streets.

All she was hearing now was "_THIEF! THIEF!_"

All she could think was, "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

And she could do now, was _run, run damn you_.

Sakura panicked and stumbled over while she tried to get away, the stolen bag hung guiltily over her shoulders as she vanished quickly through the corridors and all over the building for a quick exit. But not all of her had vanished.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

* * *

_Oh, wow, I updated two chapters. _


	7. Powerhouse Tsunami

**Disclaimer:** Darling, I don't need to own Naruto and Samurai Champloo to write fanfiction.

Penname: _LiveLoveLaugh_

FanFiction Story: **Sunflower Samurai**

**Summary:** (Naruto X Samurai Champloo) Sakura had stepped into a spellbound when she fell asleep in a garden of sunflowers, in a strange event she was taken in a coma where she dreamt she lived in a world not her own, traveling with three other wanderers.

**_AN_:** Ah, ah, leave me alone! I know you guys are going to be probing at me for the answers of the pairings, and no thank you! It's in my blood, almost, that I would never tell anyone of the pairings unless it's deliberately for a trashy romance fanfiction story I might write or a one-shot. All I will hint at is, I just hope some of you are non-cannon lovers or, at least appreciators because these pairings WILL be unexpected. Here's the second updated chapter!

* * *

_Powerhouse Tsunami _

* * *

The people within the walls of gigantic extravagant inn had begun to hear the echoing noises of the burglar alerts, low and loud whistles of the town police brigade with their sheathed swords in their clothed belts and wicker sandals had dashed through the busy night streets as the lampposts had ignited. People looking out of their windows had hit pots and pans together to make some noise, as worry and horror had hit the main town. 

Fuu looked around with confusion before she could even climb the stairs towards the main chambers of the innkeeper's and his family. She stared dumbfounded when people, both guest and servant, ran around clutching onto their loved ones and valuables as they ran amok in the entire colorful building. The two men behind her held their hands readily on their sword handles, one with a passive look and darting eyes, another with a smirk and excitement pumping in his veins.

"What's going on, sir!" she stopped one balding servant, who defensively pushed her away.

Mugen looked angry when the same man had bumped him over, running around with the rest of the rush hour, "OH YEAH? Screw you!"

Jin quietly glanced at both sides, his glasses glimmered from the lit skylights. His ears were drumming with the sounds of the wind chimes, the melody connecting and fluttering louder and softer in so many numerous places. People over the place tried to calm down others. Fuu finally found the innkeeper's shrieking wife running with her heavy body and her plump children behind her.

"M'am! M'AM!" Fuu rushed over to touch the round arm of the inn lady, who yelled at the sight of the brunette. "Calm down! What's going on?"

The woman went hysterical.

"Someone! MY STUFF! Thief! THIEF! WAS _HERE!_ GIRL GONE! Thief! _SHE'S THE THIEF!_ STOLE MY JEWELRY!" the inn lady squealed, her double chins jiggled to her shrilly voice as she covered her devastated expression with her pudgy hands, her wine-colored nails gleamed discolored, cracked at the tips, and fading away. The kids cried frightfully and grabbed their big mother's fine silks and cottons of her heavy kimono in their hands.

"Wait! You mean the _girl _stole your stuff!" Fuu exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with disbelief.

"You mean that chick you were bragging about was the _thief!_" Mugen looked both pissed off and excited as if a street dog were to be in heat, "What ever happened to your great people skills?"

"Will you just shut up?" Fuu yelled.

Jin blinked, his sixth sense had finally picked up something, and their heads turned to the crumbled giant fusuma opened immediately. The police patrol had burst through, their swords were in their hands, crying out authority but people kept running in all sorts of places. Barking trained hounds growled and they held on by their leashes. The spectacled samurai ran over, his sandals hitting on the ground, as he grabbed onto one leash. The officers looked surprised and anxious.

While the inn lady was wailing and pulling at her hair, Fuu found chastity as she pulled Mugen with her to Jin's side.

"What are you doing Jin!" Fuu cried, her eyes were fearful.

Mugen looked at the black hound the other samurai had picked, that seemed to have a liking for _his_ blood.

"I think I might know where the thief is, I would need to borrow one of your dogs," Jin reassured them, pulling onto the largest, most vicious hound. Their hands released that leash, letting all authority fall onto the mysterious navy-clothed swordsmen as he quickly pulled the barking black hound with him and dashed up the stairs in quick fluid movements. His other two traveling companions had followed him shortly behind.

They came upon a broken fusuma sliding door, with its heavily torn and crushed wooden hedges and white coverings. Fuu gasped when she came close to the wardrobe, nearly cleaned out of the gutter when all she saw were fallen coins and golden ryou tablets, with spills of pearls and red jade. Mugen's obvious greed sparked in his dark eyes as he picked several of them up, while snickering aloud, and stuffed them into his pockets, though his stealing meant nothing to the others.

The black hound, the patrol men called Kisho, had sniffed the place with it's giant wet nose. Jin looked over the following valley with his keen eyes, his hand held firmly on the leash. Fuu was spinning in circles, her sandals twirled with her toes as she kept asking herself over and over again.

"Argh! Oh God, she seemed so nice! She can't be the thief! And polite! No! Her eyes are so honest! How can she be the thief?" Fuu groaned in frustration, smacking her head with both hands, "It just doesn't make sense!"

"Best be on your guard, you can't trust anyone," Jin whispered, without turning around.

"But she can't possibly be a thief! We might have mistaken her! Or something! Ugh!" she moaned, her pretty face turned painful with such concentration. She fell on her behind and curled up in a ball with two fingers pressed on to her temples, her attitude that of a stubborn mule's. Mugen, who was quite satisfied at how much he had rigged, rolled his eyes and picked her by the collar of her mauve pink yukata.

"Get up, diva," Mugen growled roughly, his eyes narrowing at her protesting squeals and flailing arms, "The mutt's got a scent."

Kisho quickly lifted up his head from the crumpled heap of a dirtied hooded sweater and drops of blood from the sheets, his nose pointed beyond the balcony scenery. Jin nodded, and they made a move for it.

* * *

It was the smell of pine forest and wet dirt, the water sounds had washed underneath the giant bridge. It had stretched over a cold blue-gray river that shimmered from the half moon. The sweat developed devastatingly under her arms and the backs of her knees, as the flaps of the brown leather cloak she wore shot into the air. Her body was depleting chakra, and she tried her best to run as fast as she could. The heaviness of the stolen goods on her shoulder began to intensified, causing her breathing to be hoarse and her lungs to expand and hurt. 

_No, she had more strength than this! _The kunoichi glared up ahead, dragging along her heavy legs toward the bridge.

If she could make it, she could cross it.

The pain in her ribs had not yet healed far enough, she felt it to be broken and fractured. If only she had enough time to set it right. But all she was hearing all around the market streets in this foreign place was long echoing whistles of alerts and people who ran around with fear in their voices and faces. She knew some people were after her, she still didn't understand what's going on, how she could ever find her way out.

Her eyes turned wide and hopeful, when only a few long steps before her feet could touch the hard wood planks of the bridge.

"_Argh!_" she cried, unfeminine.

The shoulder that connected to the muscles of her ribs was roughly pulled on, throwing her back from her destination. Her back slammed against the hard flat front of someone's chest, smelling of sun-baked earth and sweat. The hood of her stolen cloak had hid the face of this damn intruder and instead all she could see the dark sheen of bright red in the night. Their hands clasped all around her body underneath the cape, making her breath hitch and her cheeks flush. Their touch was harsh, rude, and predatory, she could feel in their body.

"_Hey! I got the thief!" _

"_Good!" _

Some dog barked heavily.

"_Don't hurt her Mugen!" _

Instantly, she knew she was going to be caught.

She felt as though she was already locked away, killed.

That's not going to happen!

"Get your hands off me!" she screamed, pushing him with freakish strength that send him flying at the group of dark figures coming closer and closer to her. One of his wooden clogs that he wore had tipped over and fell into the iris bushes nearby. She ran for her life. She ran for everything.

"THAT BITCH!" the same person screamed.

"Mugen! You alright!" Fuu cried, running to his side. Her mauve pink kimono looked disoriented and her hair was frizzy with worry, not for him, but for the safety of their prey. The accused was running as fast as she could, looking like she was battling with pain over her body while someone navy and dark soared past him and chased after her over the bridge.

"I'm fine!" he said defensively, picking himself quickly off the ground. His posture on the ground was uneven and he limped slightly from missing one of his wooden clogs, toeing it off and immediately unsheathing his katana from his green beige belt holster, the clanging of metal scraped and the waitress girl squealed.

"_What are you two doing!_" Fuu shrieked, ran after him and Jin, who had had his own sword in his hands.

Mugen ran over the wooden planks barefooted, after the silent samurai as the cloaked stranger staggered around the ledges, breathing harshly and stumbled on her steps.

"DON'T KILL HER!"

"SHUT UP!" Mugen yelled, with his katana overhead jumping over Jin who widened his eyes behind his lens.

Sakura turned around too quickly and watched horrified as the gleam of red, brown, and silver had descended upon her.

"APE-FACE!" Fuu squealed mortifyingly.

In a flash, the air became thick in waves.

Thick with wooden splinters.

And a loud splash.

Mugen's blade had embedded itself into the solid ledge of the bridge, his throat was choked with annoying grunts and his bare foot was smacking against the wood on the side of the sword as he tried to pull it off. Splinters landed by his feet, and on the red cotton of his yukata top. He shook it and stamped, about to break the katana. Jin, Kisho, and Fuu ran over, and grabbed their hands on the bridge edge as they had seen, the girl had fallen over the bridge accidentally, unharmed, and into the water.

"She was nearly killed!" Fuu screamed.

"Well she lost my shoe!" Mugen screeched, finally pulling off the blade.

"She can drown!" Fuu slapped him upside the head.

"The water's not deep enough," Jin muttered, "But she's probably still underneath. We can still catch her."

"You're kidding me!" Fuu looked admonished, "You guys aren't going to—" She yelped when the two, contrasting of blue and red, had jumped over the bridge ledge.

"_SHOW OFFS!_" she cried, never knowing how to swim.

Kisho barked.

Mugen and Jin landed into the water, soaking through their clothes immediately with the splashes. The river water had risen up to their knees and stuck the soles of their feet to the muddy ground. They ignored the freezing cold water that nearly ice-cubed their body, sending them shivers up their spine and their skin to tingle with They held out their gleaming katana, the blade in front of their crouched forms. Their searched impatiently for the girl underneath the depths of the water, moving around their hips as their faces looked on.

"Those egotistic jerks!" Fuu yelled to herself animatedly, the black hound was her only audience, "Thinking they just kill anyone they want to, and always causing trouble! Freeloaders too! Jerks! Idiots! Morons! They like nothing better than getting to kill each other and ditching me behind! It would be great when one day when I just have a more _worthy _companion traveling with me instead! YOU MADE A PROMISE GOD DAMN YOU!" She shook her fist threateningly, puffing out her cheeks.

Kisho looked at her with his dark canine eyes, his long pink tongue stuck out as he panted.

"WHAT!" Fuu yelled at him, slapping her forehead, "Oh never mind! You're just a dog, and dogs don't think like how people think…" Suddenly she winced, blinking, "Uh, well…better than those samurai-wannabes, so you got something to look forward to…"

Kisho barked excitedly, turning back his snout to the opening of the bridge barriers.

"Eh?" Fuu turned back. Her eyes right away popped out, whined, "WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN THERE!"

Mugen and Jin inched back cautiously, their heels pushed at the water mud and pebbles as they watched stunningly as someone rose from under the bubbling water. But unlike anyone in other ways they had known before, she wasn't swimming, and she wasn't floating either, but standing on _top_ of the water.

The heavy brown cloak clung to her back as she grabbed hold of her front and one-handedly pulled herself up from the cold water, her knees pushing her up. She sputtered clogged water from her burning nostrils and rash throat, her head was unbalanced and her movements were slipping off the chakra platform she had created from her small body supply. She coughed violently and clasped her hands at her ribs and the side of her head. Water dripped from her soaked form, freezing her to the spot.

She looked up, her hair slipped from the wet hood and glided down her neck, dipping over her shaking shoulders. The sopping sheens of glossy pink that glowed near silver in the night had shined over the dark fabric of her heavy cloak that clasped over her slender muscles. The strings of the leather bag had cut into her shoulder blades. The soaked clothes made her skin crawl with cold and it made her feel dirty. She bent her knees achingly biting down her lip, her fractured ribs had made her do so, her bare pale legs and training skirt peeked out from the brown flaps.

Just standing on top of the water looking like that, almost made her celestial. Godly.

"_Argh_," she groaned, she shook with intense burning pain all over her body. The chakra underneath her feet had flown away and she began to sink vertically down to the mud, in even lengths with the tall samurai. Mugen and Jin stared at her disbelievingly.

She looked up with the sharp focused glowing eyes of emerald green, glimmering solidly like the stone. She angrily walked across the heavy water around her thighs, one step by another when she saw them standing there. All she could see was the blurry images of crimson and indigo, and the shining threats of their raised katana. The pain was nearly unbearable, nearly pleasurable.

_Masochist_, her inner self whispered smirking.

"Leave…" she breathed, watching them come closer, "…me…_ALONE!_" Abruptly, she pounded the flowing waters of the freezing river with a green chakra-covered hand and like a miniature tsunami had erupted from the bowels of the water had collided towards the red and blue figures, which the both had flew up from the upcoming tidal wave caused by just her fist.

Fuu squealed, ducking for cover when the hard sprays of river water had rained down her lithe body, drenching her, the giant black dog, and the entire bridge. The two samurai had skidded aside for the tsunami to run over and suddenly when they landed next to each other, a fist shot in between of them, yelling swear words not meant for a woman.

They widened their eyes, when the pink-haired thief flung herself on them, wanting to hurt them. Mugen and Jin repeatedly dodged every attempt of the stranger who was throwing hard punches to kill and her screams in their faces. They came just close enough to throw their swords on her, at least to injure her, but she near magically unsheathed her own weapon. She quickly took out a sharp kunai in each hand and scrapped metal with their katana blades.

As a team, ironically for both Jin and Mugen, they fought her with their speed and strength. Their entire body flexibly moved with each others, twisting around and shooting down at her with their swords that she had blocked with her own steel weapons. The water was too heavy to move easily like on land, so their movements were heavily forced and they tried to tire her out. Sakura was soon coming out the loser, when her every pore of her chakra valves was wasting away as she danced over the splashes.

Their swords knocked off the kunai from her hands, cutting her palms.

"UGH!" She threw one strained bleeding punch and landed it on Mugen's chest.

He yelled as he was thrown back again by her pushes, and landed into the denser parts of the water. She twisted around hurting, and gasped when she nearly came into contact with a sharp cut of Jin's blade that sliced the river water in half in that amazing second.

She achingly choked and coughed, wheezing in the cold. She grasped onto her ribs when terrible agony had threw her off coast, the sizzling scratches on her hands had added to the horror.

Suddenly she jumped back forcibly when the man with glasses had sliced at her, and many more times after that. His skinny pale body hidden behind his burdening navy outfit had moved so fast that she couldn't see and that she couldn't dodge as quickly as before. Blood dripped from her palms like stigmata and into the waters that were being rippled and carried forth as the near-unconscious girl moved her entire life as the tall towering samurai nearly had her head.

"DON'T KILL HER!" Someone yelled from above.

Sakura turned around on her toes and looked up instantly, she realized she was under the tall bridge and she grimaced when she couldn't even see it correctly without first seeing the dark fragments of meshed brown and black. Suddenly she panicked, her back on her enemy.

_SMACK!_

She gasped when she blacked out. Jin's hand outstretched and hit hard on the back of her skull, his katana sheathed at his belt. His eyes was closed, and reopened to catch the fainted girl in his arms. The brown hood fell off, and a flow of long pink locks had fallen over her face and exposing the back of her neck as if for execution. She landed in his careful hands, her small waist in his wet fingers as he stared at her with awe.

"What are we going to do with you?" he asked when he carefully picked her up.

"FLY YOUR OWN KITE MAN!" Mugen cried, from several yards away.

He sighed.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

* * *

_See? This was long! Waiting that long does make you satisfied! Well, anyway, please be patient for the next chapter!_


End file.
